People can get it too easily, there are too many games that people just end up with it. if it was harder to get, it would purely be people who want it and not people just saying "ehh why not"

NOW------FFS------

I made other suggestions other than the AWP.. I have a feeling I'm going to have to post them in a separate topic.. gah I'll just do that..

Playing on a public server with 16k is easy to obtain an awp, playing on casual where you spawn with kevlar and a defuser (if I recall correctly), and having an easier money system also helps you obtain the awp easier, but the awp rewarding you with a smaller prize, having scope blur are what is balancing it at the moment, it also needs the cycle tuned to match source or 1.6 (preferable 1.6 as the awp is perfect on 1.6)

I understand that using grenades, it's not too hard to overcome an AWPer that you know is there but I still think being blindsided by the ones you don't know about are the problem, increasing the price to make it harder to obtain, keeping it out of the hands of those who are on the fence about buying it, could really help

It is just fine the way it is. In fact, take away the zoom blur. Some in a pub is owning you with an awp because you wont throw a smoke/flash, your fault. This game is already favoring the new console/casual generation. It becomes more of a cod clone with every dumb suggestion like this one. This is counter-strike. This is where people come to test their skills, you aren't as good as the person with the awp. Plain and simple.

They can still get the gun and decimate with it VPP. This doesn't remove any kind of skillful elements, just makes them harder.
I'm not as good as the kid who bought the AWP in the first 5 rounds and is sitting at the end of a corridor at the beginning of a round? I really should have expected that, you're right.